Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Series 14, Episode 5 Review: Everyone Joins the Broken Hearts Club

Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Series 14, Episode 5 is somewhat a reminder of why this show has been a British television staple. BBC and BritBox viewers have a general idea of how the mystery is going to go — the specifics change, but there’s always a “locked room” premise and always an ending where the Detective Inspector gathers the suspects. What keeps the show going is the character moments that keep the format interesting.

Episode 5 is a football-centered (or soccer-centered, for the U.S. audience) story as star goalkeeper Ines Mercedes is found Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in the locker room. Mervin Wilson and the team have no idea how they didn’t see or hear anything, since they were sitting in the stands at the big game. But what unfolds is a plot that runs parallel to developments in Detective Sergeant Naomi Thomas’ personal life. Plus, there’s a cliffhanger that will have viewers talking.

Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Series 14, Episode 5 Is Driven by Relationships

This Episode Is a Little More Upbeat Than Others

Every Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise episode involves someone’s personal life becoming very public by the end of the hour. One recent example is Series 14, Episode 3 exposing an affair between the victim’s husband and her business partner. Episode 5 follows along similar lines, because Ines and her biggest rival Grace Devon are revealed to actually have been in a romantic relationship, which Grace broke off shortly before she was killed. But despite the heartbreak, the episode feels more upbeat than usual, possibly because it’s more about foolish decisions than actual malice of any kind.

Ines’ murder is actually an accidental shooting. Grace had bought Ines a gun for protection after Ines had received Dᴇᴀᴛʜ threats, which were explained as being sent by her alleged best friend and teammate, Brigitte Lewis, to “scare her.” But when Brigitte realized that Ines was trying to advocate for her to Brigitte’s father and their coach, the other woman confessed — leading Ines to bring out the gun. The two women struggled over the weapon and it unexpectedly discharged. Not wanting to see her friend or her ex-girlfriend in trouble, Ines decided to go ahead with the game, and died before she could get help. All of these things are poor choices, but they’re different from the usual motives of greed or ambition or spite. As a result, the audience feels badly for everyone.

Ines’ Dᴇᴀᴛʜ turns out to be in vain, technically speaking, because both Grace and Brigitte are arrested anyway. Yet Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise makes clear that this was all a tragic accident, with the emphasis on tragic. The guest characters are well fleshed out, and the audience grasps the sadness of the situation, even if they don’t agree with it. What’s also interesting is how much Grace’s story specifically begins to run parallel to the subplot involving Naomi.

Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Gives Insight into Naomi’s Personal Life

Are Naomi and Mervin Actually Bonding Somewhat?

What Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Season 14, Episode 5 will be most remembered for is the B-story about Naomi Thomas’ life before she came to Saint Marie. Emmanuel Warner, the referee overseeing the football match, turns out to be Naomi’s ex-boyfriend from Saint Barnabas. The two were a couple for four years before Naomi ended the relationship when she moved to Saint Marie. That’s not much resolution, so Emmanuel being at the stadium prompts him and Naomi to finally hash things out.

While Emmanuel is initially a suspect in Ines’ murder, the show’s creative team wisely decides not to make him a killer. In fact, he’s quietly taken off the suspect board in the middle of the episode. That would have been a cliche and uninteresting decision. Instead, this story is about Naomi reconsidering that she prioritized her career over her personal life, especially after she finds out that Emmanuel is now engaged to someone else back home. Shantol Jackson is wonderful in the scene when Naomi finds Mervin and pours out all of her insecurities, and that scene is not only huge for her, but huge for Naomi and Mervin’s rapport. It’s the first time where they seem like friends and not just colleagues, and the first time that the audience sees Mervin’s compassionate side.

It comes out in this conversation that Mervin was also once engaged, only for the relationship to fail because he spent too much time at work, which he describes as the only thing he’s good at. This is the biggest piece of information Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise viewers have about him beyond the Dᴇᴀᴛʜ of his mother, and it makes him feel much more relatable than he was in the premiere. The show then shoots this in the foot the next day, by having Mervin tell an apologetic Naomi not to do that again. But if the writers are smart, they’ll forget that brusque comment and keep building this relationship. The dynamic between the DI and their DS is critical to Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise, and Mervin and Naomi have a lot of potential.

Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Walks Back a Major Plot Point

Series 14, Episode 5 Makes Mervin’s Mom Relevant Again

Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise Season 14, Episode 3 also explained that the Dᴇᴀᴛʜ of Mervin’s mother Dorna Bray was an accident. It seemed like a premature reveal at the time, although it paved the way for Episode 4 to be about coping and reconnecting. Yet Episode 5 reverses course, as Mervin and Naomi discover that Dorna’s original plan was to scatter her father’s ashes on the beach, and that she had taken out a permit to do so. But if that was the case, why did she end up on a boat instead? The series opening this ongoing mystery back up is not entirely surprising, since it felt like Dorna’s story was wrapped up too early in the season — but it is awkward from a structual standpoint.

Why fake out the viewers with what was actually a pretty good amount of closure? It would have been easier to simply introduce this piece of evidence in Episode 3, and let the mystery of Dorna Bray continue forward, rather than pausing and circling back. The most classic British mysteries are able to create ongoing subplots that keep the audience in suspense with a steady momentum. Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise only has three episodes left now to resolve Dorna’s story (and Commissioner Patterson’s fate). Other than that questionable choice, though, this is an episode that is pleasantly satisfying. It’s bittersweet, but also moving and with good character development, laying the groundwork for not just Series 14 but future seasons as well.

Dᴇᴀᴛʜ in Paradise streams Wednesdays on BritBox.